What Michigan State Head Coach Jonathan Smith Said About Boston College Ahead of Matchup

After solid Week 1 wins for both Boston College and Michigan State, the two programs are turning the page to Week 2 where the pair will face off on Saturday night.

On Monday, Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith spoke to the media where he praised Boston College and Coach Bill O’Brien.

“We’re going to need to take a step from one game to the next cause we got a big-time opponent coming in here Saturday,” said Smith. “Got a bunch of respect [for] Coach O’Brien. They will be prepared. Schematically challenging, physical brand of football, both sides of it. We got a big time opponent. We gotta have a good week of work getting ready for those guys for Saturday night at 7:30.”

He also talked about how the coaching staffs are similar and emphasized that the Spartans are wanting to play effectively.

“There is some familiarity, we played them last year,” said Smith. “I think both staffs have some continuity on staff. So schematics, learning from game one to the second time you're playing them from last year. I think they're the same as us with the coordinator level and things like that. So, [I] like it. Big, big opponent in our place, non-conference [game]. Every game's really important. It's still really early in the season, but we're trying to play really well.”

Smith gave some insight from last year’s game where Boston College won 23-19 on a late touchdown and interception to seal the win in the final two minutes of the contest.

“You gotta play for four quarters,” said Smith. “These games are won in the fourth quarter. It came down to that execution at the end of the game... That particular one, both sides, we could have got a stop last year. Didn’t do it. Had the ball at the end of the game, couldn’t finish it. And so yeah, that’s a learning lesson that happens multiple times, but I know we’ll be watching some of that tape cause of the continuity staff wise, schematics, we’ll be watching some of that.”

He shared what he saw from the Eagles this weekend in their dominant win over Fordham.

“They look good,” said Smith. “Week 1, really all three phases with the quarterback. Again, Coach O’Brien does a nice job schematically, moved the ball, scored a bunch of points. We know coming into this thing, they got a couple of receivers that got our attention. They do a nice job on tight end position to catch the ball. So, they got some weapons.”

He added that some of the veteran players that were a part of last year’s team have some extra motivation to play at a high level on Saturday.

“We got returning players that experienced that kind of disappointment of that game,” said Smith. “The back and forth, they had an awesome crowd, Red Bandanna Game. It leaves an imprint on you. They stormed the field after. And so guys remember that and again, that's not in a disrespectful way. They had a nice win and they should celebrate the thing, but I think it's those that were there [that] have some added juice to to want to play well this weekend.”

Smith also shared what he has seen from Boston College and O’Brien from last year to this year.

“They did a nice job getting to a bowl game last year,” said Smith. “Again, conferences are different, this and that, but this team, they are sound. They make you earn it. They don’t just give you freebies of making mistakes. Even looking at Week 1, they didn’t have the Week 1 issues. When you score that many points, you’re creating those points and they did it. Whether it’s turnovers [or] offensively executing at a high level, and that does start with, I think, some of the coaching they got going on over there. Coach O’Brien knows what he’s doing.”

Boston College travels to East Lansing, Mich., to take on Michigan State on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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